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FrontRunners: Down Time

The Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya (www.mandarinoriental.com) will take you to new depths—maybe even to the underworld—with its new Submerged in Riviera Maya package. In addition to four nights’ accommodations at the resort—which opened in early 2008 on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, 26 miles south of Cancún—the three-day scuba-diving program includes classroom and in-pool training sessions, two open-water dives to depths of 40 feet, and two open-water dives to 60 feet. Upon completion of the course, you receive PADI open-water certification, which is recognized at dive sites around the world. The Riviera Maya region is considered one of the world’s top scuba destinations, thanks to its proximity to the Western Hemisphere’s largest barrier reef. The area’s diving attractions also include numerous cenotes, or freshwater caves, which early Mayan civilizations believed led to the underworld.